Apple

Due to the rough criticism received and to the controversy concerning the banned products in San Francisco, Apple decided to rejoin EPEAT’s list of environmentally friendly products.

Few weeks ago Apple has decided to withdraw all 39 models of desktop and laptop computers from the list of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, claiming that EPEAT’s standards cannot cope with Apple’s standards and does not cover all their devices.

Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, announced last Friday in a letter that the Cupertino Company will relist its products on the U.S. government-backed registry of environmental friendly products. The federal government said that it is mandatory for a device to be EPEAT certified, thus, Apple had no choice but to relist its product in order to avoid sales ban.

In his letter, Bob Mansfield felt the need to explain Apple’s decision of withdrawing the devices and the fact that EPEAT does not measure its progress and also the reason for which the Company cancelled its decisions:

“We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the Epeat rating system,” he said. “I recognize that this was a mistake.”

Also, according to Mansfield, as an aftermath of this controversy, the relationship between Apple and EPEAT has become stronger than before.

A Nielsen survey from June, 2012 showed that RIM and Windows are hanging by a thin thread while Android and Apple are pushing them away from the smartphone market. On the other hand, as smartphone ownership grows with each day, both Android and Apple are growing, too, but Android outruns iOS.

According to Nielsen’s analyze, Android expanded with 51.8 percent while iOS with 34.3 percent. As for Blackberry, it seems that only 4 percent of the new smartphone owners chose a RIM phone, expanding with just 8.1 percent.

The significant difference between Apple and Android is due to the smartphone manufacturer share. Android scored such a positive expansion thanks to Samsung, HTC and Motorola while Apple alone had to fight the three of them. Though Apple scored higher than the other mobile giants Android is still more required than iOS.

An outstanding watch is always going to be a good accessory, being popular among both men and woman. But a watch that has the features of Apple devices is not just a regular watch but something that allows easy access to the world of music, movie, social media, pictures and so on and so forth.

This accessory embodies your iPod Nano into a genuine advanced watch designed for all the moments of your active lifestyle. Syre is the support that copes with your Apple device creating a one-of-a-kind watch that lets you perform and listen to your favorite music while doing sport or any other activity like cyclist, rock climber and runner and so on and so forth. You won’t need your wired headphones anymore thanks to this accessory.

Cookoo watch is a piece of technology that notifies the user every time he has a missed call, a message or a message from a social network site. You are notified in real time so you won’t have to worry that you missed an urgent call.

The 3D printed iPod Nano bracelet: Nanolet is designed as an alternative solution for the other watch models available for the Nano. It has already gained popularity, especially the Curve Creative Nanolet model which has an impressive design; it’s minimal, lightweight and perfect for people on the run.

Last but not least, iWatch, a concept that resembles quite well to Apple devices. The Swedish designer Andres Kjellberg has come with its version of iWatch, a concept that resembles quite well to an Apple product. If you were to see it on the market, you’ll have no doubt that it was created by Apple. The concept provides Retina Display, Video Recording, HD (1080p), Built in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 16 GB storage, iTunes/ App Store, AirPlay, Charging via Wi-Fi, Synching via Wi-Fi, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor and Ambient light sensor.

Sportsband combines in an attractive way the retro ages with the modern ones, adding a bit of the 80’s style to the sleek finish of the most powerful Bluetooth headphones. Let the clear, deep resonance of the music and the smooth bass flood your ears without getting interrupted by annoying wires. The quality of the sound offered by Sportsband Bluetooth Headphones SB2 is similar to the music performance offered by a CD.

The headphones are comfortable and lightweight and offer a perfect fit. The overhead band is thin and flexible while the underside band has a thin rubber layer. Your ears are protected by two retro earpads. Sporsband offers a range of 9 color combinations. Once connected to your iDevice, you can control the music and the volume and take calls.

The 9 hours battery life lets you experience the high quality music on Bluetooth headphones. Sportsband SB2 from JayBird can be purchased for $99 and for an additional price of $50 each, iPhone and iPod can choose also an apt-X device and an iSport one for enriched bass quality.

Due to Apple’s last week withdrawing from EPEAT’s list of environmentally friendly products, the San Francisco Department of Environment decided to ban the purchase of Apple’s products for the citizens.

Apple retorted on Tuesday with two powerful reasons: the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool doesn’t have such high standards as Apple in measuring toxins and doesn’t cover smartphones and tablets. Apple’s spokesman, Kristin Huguet told The Loop that

“We also lead the industry by reporting each product’s greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials.”

In addition to this, Apple measures also carbon footprints, which are not measured by EPEAT, proving that EPEAT’s certifications are in need for a refresh. Apple’s actions for a friendly environment, such as recycling programs and the use of solar panels, are various and already popular; also, a story describing the company’s environmental footprint and that often gets updated is published on the official web page.

Apple has announced at this years’ WWDC a new OS X with hundreds of new features, including Power Nap, AirPlay Mirroring, and Game Center and other technical goodies, such as Messages and Twitter instead of iChat, deeper iCloud integration, Reminder, Notes and Notification Center.

The wait for the developers stopped on Monday, when Apple released the final update of Mountain Lion 10.8, called Gold Master. The Golden version is the same with the version that will be released to public, except few technical issues and tweaks. Yet, unlike the developers who can download it anytime, Mac users will have to wait until the end of July, when they will have the possibility to buy the upgrade for $19.99.

Taking into account the release of the previous OS X version, we can expect that the Gold Master version will be released by the same time. Apple released OS X 10.7 on July 24, last summer, one day after the earnings announcement, thus, Mac users should be prepared to get their hands on Mountain Lion 10.8 in few weeks.

What if Apple came with the idea of creating their own watch? Apple has managed to create many devices that chuckle over success and we believe that a watch would draw the fan’s attention quite easily.

The Swedish designer Andres Kjellberg has come with its version of iWatch, a concept that resembles quite well to an Apple product. If you were to see it on the market, you’ll have no doubt that it was created by Apple. The concept provides Retina Display, Video Recording, HD (1080p), Built in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 16 GB storage, iTunes/ App Store, AirPlay, Charging via Wi-Fi, Synching via Wi-Fi, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor and Ambient light sensor.

At first glance you could say that it approaches the iPod Nano’s design. It’s even more advanced than just a regular iPod nano, featuring Maps, iTunes & App Store. You could also play games, but at that small size of the screen it’s kind of hard to see things clearly.

If Apple were to come with such a gadget, it’s pretty likely that it would be something that your wrist needs for being a real Apple fan.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could play classic games just like old times, with two controllers on a TV? GameDock for iOS allows the user to experience the original feeling of playing with a console through an Apple device. The procedures are quite simple; all the user needs to do is plug the dock into the TV and the iPhone just like a video game console and game cartridge.

What captured our attention was the fact that the gamedock is compatible with various iCade games and dock ready games for spending quality time with your friends. So you get two-player support and full 1080 HDTV output for the games of your childhood.

You get to select the games that you wish to play from your iOS device just lying on the couch. In case you don’t have a TV, rest assured that you could play the games on the iPhone with the two controllers. It’s compatible with all devices running iOS4 or later but for the automatic HDMI mirroring you’ll need an iPad2, iPod4 or iPhone 4/4S. If you like the gadget you could make a pledge at KickStarter for helping the developer accomplish his project.

Apple tested few months ago the implementation of the A5X processor in the iPhone using an iPhone 4 body and it seems that this performance try-out went better than expected. An article on DigiTimes unveils that the new iPhone will have in fact a quad-core processor, named as the A6.

The fourth quarter of 2012, Samsung’s Galaxy S3, HTC and LG will have to compete with new quad-core smartphones, including ZTE, Huawei and Apple’s iPhone 5. Unlike Apple, ZTE and Huawei have already introduced their quad-core smartphone models at MWC 2012, but the devices are set to be launched this years’ Q4.

The new CPU in iPhone 5 will be Samsung’s Exynos 4, the same used also for the Galaxy S3. Apple’s processors A5 and A5X use ARM’s technology and Samsung is the only company to produce them. Exynos 4 uses, too, ARM’s technology but unlike the other two CPUs that are a 45-nanometer process, this four-core CPU is a 32-nanometer process that ensures lower power demands.

Typing on a MacBook keyboard and creating music playlists on iOS devices just got bigger. Apple has received the patents for an advanced MacBook Pro Keyboard and for multiple windowing in creating music playlists.

The patent concerning the media player files changes the interface of the Music section in Library and is described as a “Method, system, and graphical user interface for viewing multiple application windows,” and it will enable users to generate step-by-step windows that display different content. For example, one opens from the iPod’s library the ‘music’ section, then in a new window the ‘song’ section and finally the track Moves like Jagger from Maroon 5 in a new, distinctive window.

The MacBook Pro’s new keyboard will have new keys that are backed by a double-diving-board spring mechanism. Also, under each mechanism will be mounted a dome switch. Such keyboard will offer Mac Book Pro users a more comfortable and easier typing.

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